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Two related research activities 1) on low NOx burners and 2) on co-firing of biomass have led to combined economic savings estimated to be in the region £40M-£70Mpa.
The fitting of low NOx burners to power station boilers reduced the NOx emissions but resulted in a reduced amount of saleable bottom slag and a finer pulverised fuel ash (pfa), which placed an increased load on the electrostatic precipitators. Additions of pfa to the power station coals were found to increase the overall combustion efficiency, while at the same time providing an increased amount of a saleable boiler slag and a pfa that could be used as a cement replacement material.
Despite the very different nature of the ashes produced from the combustion of biomass and coals, a detailed characterisation of the residues demonstrated that, with an appropriate choice of both biomass type and coal, a successful co-firing at up to 50% of coal replacement with biomass was possible. Co-combustion with increased levels of coal replacement has produced significant reductions in power station emissions, resulting in both environmental and economic benefits.
Impact: Public and private sector investment in technologies for Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), including a major UK Government CCS Commercialisation Programme.
Significance and reach: In the 2010 Spending Review the UK government re-affirmed a £1billion commitment to CCS funding, which since 2012 has been referred to as a CCS Commercialisation Programme. [text removed for publication]. The European Commission have placed CCS pipelines into 2012 infrastructure package negotiations, with allocated funds of ~ €2.5billion.
Underpinned by: Research into the sub-surface storage of carbon, undertaken at the University of Edinburgh (1999 onwards).
This case study is an example of the impact of the ERC, which specialises in furnace and utility boiler modelling and monitoring through research in collaboration with European Industrial partners. Modelling work primarily based around the zone method and physical acid-alkali modelling has led to significant NOx reductions (50%+) for the glass melting process and this work is currently being demonstrated on the furnaces of Owens Illinois and SiseCam. The monitoring work has demonstrated that by monitoring spectral information from individual flames it is possible to reduce NOx emissions from utility power station burners by as much as 40%.
The Imperial College Pile `ICP' effective-stress pile design approaches for offshore foundations offer much better design reliability than conventional methods. Their use delivers substantial economies in many hydrocarbon and renewable energy projects, better safety and confidence in developing adventurous structures in others. The ICP has enabled production in otherwise unviable marginal hydrocarbon fields, new options in high-value deep-water projects and helped eliminate installation failures that can cost hundreds of £million. We present evidence that the research delivered direct benefits exceeding £400m since 2008 in projects known to us, with larger worldwide benefits through project risk reduction and independent exploitation.
Research at the University of Bath on highly structured materials for adsorbing and separating gases has created business and economic impact via:
[Comment: Although beyond the cut-off date for impact achievement, as at 31 October 2013 n-psl had been acquired by the FTSE 100 listed international engineering group, IMI plc.]
The demand for biofuels and alternative energies is increasing globally as a sustainable source of energy is sought for the future. Energy from crops is no longer a viable option due to the increase in wheat prices. Scientists at the BEST Research Institute have managed to bridge the gap by using novel and unique microwave systems for converting waste (biomass, food, animal) into energy. Our advances in this area have generated considerable interest from both national (e.g., United Utilities PLC, Balfour Beatty PLC, Biofuels Wales Ltd, Stopford Projects Ltd, Longma Clean Energy Ltd) and international (e.g., RIKEN-Japan, Fraunhofer-Germany, Sairem-France, Acondaqua-Spain, Ashleigh Farms-Ireland) companies. This has resulted in several collaborative, funded projects leading to industrial adoption of our microwave technologies.
Plaxica is a spin-out from, and based, at Imperial College London with economic, societal and environmental impacts. Launched in 2008, Plaxica is a process technology licensing business which is tackling the barriers that currently prevent a wider acceptance of bioplastics; specifically improving properties, decreasing cost and using non-food feedstocks to manufacture the biopolymer poly(lactic acid), PLA. Plaxica's technology uses sustainable feedstocks to produce PLA using more energy-efficient processes, to produce a strong, high-quality polymer, the result of which is a low-cost, environmentally-friendly biopolymer for use in applications including textiles, packaging, and automobile parts. In the REF period Plaxica has raised £10m from investors such as Imperial Innovations, Invesco Perpetual and NESTA Investments. The market pull for biorenewable materials from consumers is strong and the EU predicts that PLA will substitute >10% of the existing market for petrochemical polymers and forecasts a market >$15b [A].
Instrumentation technologies developed at Kent, in particular pulverised fuel flow metering, on-line particle sizing, on-line fuel tracking and burner flame imaging, have enabled combustion engineers to diagnose large-scale complex combustion processes and optimize the operation of coal, biomass and heavy-oil fired power plants. The technologies operate on novel sensing and advanced measurement principles and have produced real-time measurement and plant condition monitoring data that were previously unavailable. Instrumentation systems operating on the technologies have been applied successfully to a range of pilot plants and on full-scale power plants in countries including the UK, France, China and Saudi Arabia. Work has enabled the power industry to produce electricity safely while minimising environmental impact and employing a diverse range of fuels. The instrumentation technology informed the conversion of Drax power station from 100% coal firing to biomass/coal co-firing during 2011/2012 as it sought to halve its carbon footprint within five years. The technology sourced and informed the alleviation of significant vibration problems within a heavy-oil fired power plant in Saudi Arabia.
This case study describes interdisciplinary impacts developed from research of the Sustainable Energy theme. They examine conversion of energy from alternative sources; from power generation using pyrolysis or biomass burners to energy harvesting of waste heat from electronic components. In all cases the aim is clear: to develop systems that make sustainable energy production a reality. This has important impacts in advancing efficiency and reliability in renewable energy technologies. Importantly, through a number of externally funded projects, this group's members have directly influenced local, national and international companies and governmental bodies. In some cases influencing decisions and having direct impact on efficiency, value from investment and even on balance sheets. In summary, they have conducted numerous energy audits, produced a minimum of 6 best practice case studies, influenced the renewable strategies of at least 52 countries, regions or industries and are recognised as the centre for biomass fuel quality assessment.
Locust and grasshopper outbreaks can form swarms containing billions of insects, creating feared and damaging agricultural pests. Following research at Imperial College London, the entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium acridum was developed into an oil formulated product (`Green Muscle®') that could be applied by ground-based and aerial spray equipment at ultra-low volume (ULV) rates, when locust and grasshopper populations periodically increased. Green Muscle® has since been used to treat locust outbreaks in Israel and five southern African countries. Green Guard®, an associated mycoinsecticide marketed in Australia, has been used extensively to control locusts in regions where there are land use limitations on chemical pesticides. Both Green Musclef6da and Green Guardf6da are supplied by Becker Underwood. Besides the success of Metarhizium as an effective, environmentally-friendly locust control option, substantial science and enabling technology ensued, that should accelerate the development of other mycopesticides as important alternatives to currently beleaguered chemical pest control methods.